Arno Tausch (Innsbruck): Costa Rica, Superstar? Some Reflections on the Global Drivers and Bottlenecks of the Happy Planet Index. As economies develop and become richer, manufacturing — “making things” — inevitably becomes less important, but if this happens more rapidly than workers can acquire advanced skills, the result can be a dangerous imbalance between an economy’s productive structure and its workforce. A review of Invisible Romans: Prostitutes, Outlaws, Slaves, Gladiators, Ordinary Men and Women, the Romans That History Forgot by Robert Knapp. A review of Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness by Nicholas Humphrey (and more and more). Academic Performance and the BCS: With conference realignment in full swing, three scholars of higher education rank the scholarly prowess of the major college sports leagues. The history and mystery of the high five: A timeless gesture, but someone went up top first — that's where it gets complicated. The power of creole: Beneath Haiti’s problems lies a deep conflict with its own language — an MIT professor has a bold plan to fix that. Literally the most misused word: The adverb clutters our speech to the point where it is in danger of losing its literal meaning. A review of Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America by John McMillian. Every natural disaster is tragic in its own way, but all natural disaster coverage is alike. Jose Manuel Barreto on Rorty and human rights: Contingency, emotions and how to defend human rights telling stories. Welcome to Newburgh, murder capital of New York: This tiny city has a crime epidemic reminiscent of the Bronx of the seventies. What is the sex of 17? People think of many things, even numbers, as being either male or female.